The Rodney Dangerfields of Races

Races of 15K (9.3 miles) through the half-marathon (13.1 miles) get no respect. The half-marathon doesn’t even get its own name; it’s just half of another distance. Imagine if people called 5Ks “half-10Ks.”
This range of races, which also includes 10-milers and 20K (12.4 miles), is almost never the focus of a runner’s races. Runners usually use these races as tune-up races a month or so before a marathon. Or some runners will run one of these races at the beginning of a racing season to build strength, and then drop down in distance to 5Ks and 10Ks for the rest of the season. But you almost never hear a runner say, “This fall, my goal is to be the best 10-mile runner I can be.”
That’s too bad. These hybrid distances can be some of the most satisfying in running. They’re plenty long, so you’re not going to get through one by running a few miles a few times a week, as you could with a 5K. But they’re not so long that they’re going to knock you down for too long. Most of the soreness and lingering fatigue that people have from marathons comes from what happens after 18 or 20 miles. Should you try a 15K, 10-miler, or a half-marathon? Why not? For people who are thinking about trying a marathon someday, building up to one of these races is a good idea. You learn the routine of training for longer distances by gradually extending your distance. Anyone running a marathon should have experience with other races first. These longer races will give you a better idea of what you’re going to experience if you try to tackle a marathon.
If you usually don’t run farther than five miles, keying on one of these races is a good motivation to extend your distance. To do that, increase the distance of your long run by one mile two out of every
three weeks. For 15Ks and 10-milers, work up to running that far two weeks before the race. Take it easy for the next two weeks, and then run the race at a strong but reasonable
pace that you know you can maintain to the end. If you’re going to do a half-marathon, then build up to 10 to 12 miles at a time, again doing your last long run two weeks before the race.
But if you’ve been running a bit more and think that you can not only cover the distance, but also run a good notch faster than on your usual training runs, you can improve your performance at these distances by entering the strange world of the lactate threshold.

What You Should Do Before a Race?

Following are two training schedules, one for building up to a 5K and one for building up to an 8K or 10K. Here’s the fine print on these schedules:

• They assume that you can manage the first week’s training. If you’re not at that level yet, build your mileage until you are.
• I’ve only listed the key workouts for each week. Try to get in at least one on two other easy runs at your usual distance during the week.
• Don’t run so much or so hard the rest of the week that you can’t complete the listed workouts. They are the ones that will spur your improvement.
• Space the key workouts evenly throughout each week to allow proper recovery.
• Try not to miss any of the key workouts, but don’t try to “make up” missed ones. Just keep going through the schedule.
• If you miss the key workouts two weeks in a row, postpone your goal race by two weeks, and pick up the schedule where you left off.
• Do the striders at the end of an easy run. Try not to do them the day after the speed workouts or the long runs.
• The speed workouts are in terms of meters. If you don’t want to run speed work on the track, translate miles to minutes, and do the workouts on the road or trail.
• The schedules include races before your goal race. Enter these to get used to what racing feels like.
• Don’t run to exhaustion within five days of your goal race.

The speed workouts are in runner shorthand, specifying the number, distance, and pace for the workout. For example, 4 800 meters at 5K goal pace means to do four intervals of 800 meters each at your per mile goal pace for 5K, with the proper recovery between the intervals. Remember, a standard outdoor track is 400 meters around, so 800 meters equals two laps. Also, keep in mind that a 8K/10K goal pace is 10–15 seconds per mile slower than a 5K race pace. Finally, before starting these training schedules, your minimum weekly mileage should be 15 miles for the 5K and 25 miles for the 8K or 10K.

The Proper Pace Prescription

I’ve convinced you that you’ll run faster in 5Ks to 10Ks by doing a weekly speed workout at your VO2 max pace, and I’ve convinced you that you’ll improve more if you do them at this pace instead of as fast as you possibly can. Now you have just one question: How do you know what that pace is?
If you’ve run a 5K race at a solid effort within the last few months and have been running consistently since, use that pace as your current VO2 max pace. Better yet, hop in a 5K race soon, run hard the entire way, and figure out your average pace per mile. In both cases, make your 5K goal pace (what, you hope, will become your new VO2 max pace) about 15 seconds per mile faster. If you haven’t run a 5K in a while (or ever), you can still figure out the proper pace. If you’re running at least 15 miles per week and know your average training pace, subtract one minute per mile to get a reasonable 5K goal pace.
The 5K and 10K training schedules later in this chapter include speed workouts that are based on your 5K goal pace. The intervals in the 8K/10K schedule are a little longer and a little slower to better meet the demands of the longer races. If you’re decently trained, you should be able to run an 8K or 10K within 10 to 15 seconds per mile of your 5K race pace.
These workouts will help you to know what pace to try to reach in your race. You’ll be used to running hard while tired. After awhile, the pace will become second nature. That’s not to say that it will feel easy, but that you can launch into it and be confident that you’re at your goal pace until you get your first split time.
You should try to run as even a pace as you can in races of 5K to 10K. Many runners like to blast through the first mile much faster than their goal pace. This is a bad idea. Their reason behind doing this is to build a cushion to allow for when they slow later in the race, and their strategy becomes self-fulfilling. They have to slow in the second half of the race because they’ve gone into oxygen debt. Oxygen debt doesn’t demonstrate how mentally tough they are; it is an unforgiving physiological fact of life. As a result, their overall time is slower than if they had run at an even pace.
In races of 5K to 10K, when you’re working right at your VO2 max, you have a very small margin of error. If you run more than 10 seconds per mile faster than your VO2 max pace, then you’re running at a pace that you can sustain for at most two miles, usually much less. Trouble is, you still have at least a mile to go. So you’re going to have to slow way down, and you’re really going to hurt. It’s not uncommon for runners to have to slow by more than 30 seconds per mile in the last mile of a 5K when they’ve started too quickly.
In these short races, I sometimes start out a little bit more slowly than my goal pace. I give myself the first few minutes of the race to build gradually. For the first few minutes, I might be running at 5 to 10 seconds per mile slower than my goal pace. This slower start helps my heart and muscles better adapt to the sudden shock of running so quickly. Then, when all systems are firing, I can take off. Running an even pace is physically the most efficient way to race, but trying to run negative splits provides a tremendous psychological boost. You’re passing other runners pretty much the whole way. If you’ve ever run a race and been passed by someone in the last mile, you know how disconcerting it can be. You’re trying as hard as you can, and this runner is just blowing by you. There’s nothing you can do. When I run negative splits, I like to key on a runner about 100 yards ahead of me. I’ll focus on chasing him down and pulling him in gradually, and then I pass him quickly to demoralize him and move on to my next target. Running at an even pace or at negative splits leaves you better prepared for your kick.
How good a kick you’ll have at the end of a 5K, 8K, or 10K depends a lot on how intelligently you ran the race. If you haven’t gone out too quickly, then you’ll still be running aerobically. This means that you can start your kick from farther out than if you’ve gone into oxygen debt. If you have good natural speed, you can shave several seconds from your finishing time with a good, long kick.
Your body can run anaerobically for about 300 yards, so that’s the farthest away from the finish line that you should launch your sprint. If you’ve started the race too fast and have slowed during the second half of the race, you’re going to have a tough time kicking for more than 50 to 100 yards.

Understanding Aerobic Capacity

The key to training to become faster at 5Ks, 8Ks, and 10Ks is to improve your aerobic capacity, or VO2 max. That’s because you run these races at very close to your aerobic capacity—an all-out 5K is run at about 95 percent of your VO2 max, a 10K at about 92 percent. To run those races better, then, you need to max out your VO2 max. The best way to do that is to do one workout each week in which you run intervals at a pace that’s roughly at your VO2 max.
But wait a minute. Didn’t I tell you early on in this book that steady, comfortable running increases your VO2 max and that it will increase by 20 to 30 percent within a year of running? Why would you need to do anything more to race a good 5K? Early on, you don’t. You’re getting fitter by leaps and bounds just by running easy. But after those initial gains, you have to work harder to keep improving. It’s like learning a new computer program—you make the greatest improvements in the beginning, when you go from complete unfamiliarity to a basic working knowledge. It’s only after more extensive experience that you learn all those little tricks of the program that allow you to make that small but significant leap from a basic user to the one in the office who every one asks for advice.
In the training schedules at the end of this chapter, I’ll have you do one speed workout each week that will focus on boosting your VO2 max by having you run your intervals at roughly that pace. In your case, I’m making them a bit faster, because I’m assuming you haven’t done systematic speed work before, so you have more room for improvement than a long-time runner. It’s important to run them as close as possible to that pace to get the greatest improvement.
In these workouts, harder isn’t necessarily better. Most runners think that if they can run a workout of three interval miles in 8:00, then running them in 7:40 will be that much more of an effective workout. But it doesn’t always work that way. In these workouts, the important thing is to work right at the limits of your VO2 max. But that’s not the same as your max.
Remember, you run 5Ks very close to your VO2 max. But obviously you can run shorter races faster; you can maintain a quicker pace for 1 mile than you can for 3.1 miles. In races shorter than 5K, a bigger percentage of your energy is supplied anaerobically, independent of the oxygen that you breathe in. So it’s possible to run faster than your VO2 max for a short distance, stop running until you catch your breath, and then run anaerobically again. Unfortunately, many ambitious runners do their speed workouts this way. They run each interval as hard as they can. When they do that, they’re definitely training hard, but they’re not training very effectively. By training faster than their VO2 max pace, their workouts are more anaerobic, so they’re training their anaerobic systems. But then they go and race 5Ks, 8Ks, and 10Ks, which rely almost entirely on their aerobic systems. In their races, they’ll often not perform up to their expectations. They’ll think, “Gee, I ran three mile intervals the other night in 7:00 each, but I could only average 7:20s in the race.” To make matters worse, they’ll then often think that this means that should train that much harder, and the next week they’ll push themselves to run their mile intervals in 6:50.
See how they’re making their workouts less and less effective the farther that they stray from doing them at their VO2 max pace? Don’t let it happen to you. Train at the right intensity, and you can pass them in the races, leaving them to wonder why you’re behind them in speed workouts, but ahead of them in races.

10K Racing 101

The first step to running your best in any race is being able to cover the distance. I don’t care how fast Carl Lewis can sprint; if 5K is a long run for him, he’s not beating me (or many other people, for that matter) in that race. The longer a race is, the more being able to negotiate the distance becomes a limiting factor. That’s why 5Ks to 10Ks are so popular. You don’t have to run all that many miles each week to be able to finish the race. But when you want to do more than just finish the race, then you need to alter your training. How? Here’s a simple training principle that many runners ignore: Different races have different physiological demands; that is, they stress different systems of your body. It’s impossible to effectively train all of the systems of your body in a short period (say, a few months). Therefore, to reach your potential, you should pick a race distance that you want to focus on for a racing season, and then train to meet the physiological demands of your target race.
In other words, you can’t train to be a miler and a marathoner at the same time. The demands of the distances are so different that you have to choose, and then structure your training accordingly. If you want to be a miler, then do a lot of short, very fast speed workouts, and don’t worry about how many miles you run each week. If you want to be a marathoner, don’t worry about how fast you can run a quarter-mile; concentrate on increasing your endurance with long runs.
This focused, seasonal approach is what the best runners in the world do, but many recreational runners are all over the place. They run a 5K one weekend, a half marathon the next, then another 5K, then a 10K. That’s not to say that you can’t or shouldn’t race at a variety of distances. But within any period of a few months, you’ll do better if you focus on a group of distances that have similar physiological demands. That way, you’ll be able to train more effectively because you can concentrate on developing the type of fitness needed for your target races.

How Far Is a K?

What’s the deal with all these “K”s runners are always talking about? I mean, everyone trains all week by measuring their miles, and then they go off on the weekend and race 5Ks and 10Ks. “K” stands for kilometer, as in a five-kilometer race. A kilometer is a metric standard of distance equal to 1,000 meters. One kilometer equals .621 miles. Europe is the epicenter of the international track and field circuit. Every summer, the best runners in the world spend June through August traveling to track meets throughout Europe to race each other. World-class track meets in Europe are like the Super Bowl is here. They often sell out more than a year in advance, with some stadiums holding more than 50,000 fans.
I ran a few of these meets in the late ’70s, and it was an incredible experience. The fans are really knowledgeable. They spend most of the distance races clapping rhythmically, stomping their feet, cheering wildly. You can’t help drawing from their energy. You just don’t see that happening at track meets in this country, which are usually more sparsely attended than a shoe-sniffing contest.
As a result, European track meets set the agenda. Because tracks are measured metrically, being 400 meters around, almost all races are in metric distances. (The main exception is the mile, which fans all over the world love.) The two main distance races are 5,000 meters, or 5K, and 10,000 meters, or 10K. Usually when people talk about track races, they give the distance in meters; when they talk about the same race on the roads, they describe it in kilometers. So a 5,000 on the track is the same distance as a 5K on the roads. Wacky, eh?
Road races used to be all kinds of strange distances: 4.7 miles, 7.1 miles, 11.6 miles, whatever. People would lay out a good course, measure it, and that’s how far the race was. But when the first running boom started in the ’70s, the new breed of runner wanted more precision. Theses runners wanted to be able to compare their times from week to week to make sure that their 5K time this month was better than it had been last month. So the standard distance races from the track were transported to the roads. Next thing you knew, runners who failed algebra could instantaneously convert miles to kilometers and back again.
But what about 8Ks, which are never run on the track? Why don’t those races lengthen their course by 47 yards and call themselves five-milers? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to know what your pace in them was that way? I don’t know. Stop asking so many questions. Just run ’em.

Fartlek: Not an Intestinal Disorder

Some runners thrive on track workouts. They love the precision and the ability to objectively compare their workouts from week to week. A lot of runners get burned out when they do speed work on the track frequently, however. They just don’t like going around and around in circles. Also, many runners don’t have easy access to a track, or they have to train when it’s dark, or the track is covered with snow. How can these runners get in their fast running?
They can do fartlek. That’s not what you do on a run after having a burrito; it’s a Swedish word that translates as “speed play.” Fartlek workouts are done away from the track. Many runners prefer them because the change in scenery makes them less mentally grinding, and they find that they can concentrate of running fast.
Fartleks can be a lot less structured than speed work on the track. You might plan a fartlek on your usual five-mile course. After running easily for a mile, you might run hard to that telephone pole way down the street, and then jog easily until the end of the next block, and then pick up the pace again until the school, and so on until you had a mile left in your run, when you would run easy the rest of the way home as your cooldown. Some runners make fartleks more structured. They might head out on one of their loops and, after warming up, spend the bulk of their run alternating running hard for two minutes with running easy for two minutes.
Runners who don’t have access to a track often use this approach. (It helps to have an alarm on your watch for this type of workout.) This approach is also good when the weather is bad, and you know it would be hard to reach your usual times on the track. In this situation, do a fartlek on the roads and get in a good workout without the weather-induced slower times bumming you out.
Doing fartleks on the road is a good choice if you’re going to be running road races with hills in them. If you do all of your fast running on the track, then you might not be able to tackle the uphills in races as well. But if you’re alternating running hard for three minutes with running slow for two minutes on a road course, then you’ll go over more varied terrain. Sometimes, you might start running hard at the base of a hill. Or your recovery jog might end when you’re halfway down a hill. You’ll learn how to keep running strongly off of the flat.
Fartleks are a safer way to run fast on hills than what some runners do, which is a series of intervals of running fast up a hill, and then jogging down to recover. Sure, this workout is very effective, but it also increases your risk of injury. If you want to work on your hill running ability, do fartleks on the road, and do your long runs on hilly courses.